Kyle Busch Captures The Pole For the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona

        With a time of 46.458 seconds (193.723 mph), Kyle Busch grabbed his first superspeedway pole of his career. After beating his teammate by a tenth of a second, Busch held onto the pole through out the last 23 drivers of the session. His run was not without threats from drivers like Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Michael Waltrip, and others, but he still held on for the pole. It was a fairly simple session considering that qualifying means almost nothing at Daytona except for pit stall selections. Drivers still ran fast, but the race is at the forefront of all drivers minds.

        Martin Truex Jr. was the first driver out on the track. He ran an extremely fast lap and finished in the top 5 at the end of the session. He held the pole at the beginning of the session until he was passed by Matt Kenseth after 15 drivers. Matt Kenseth's lap was quickly overtaken by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch. It was an extremely fast lap with over a tenth over his teammate, but it seemed like a lot of the pole contenders were in the back. Driver after driver, including Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Michael Waltrip, and Denny Hamlin, were unable to compete with the two Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas on the front row. With Ricky Stenhouse Jr.'s run at the end of the session, Kyle Busch had his third pole of 2013. It was a dominating performance for Kyle Busch in the end and he will look to take this momentum to the win on Saturday.

       Think about this information heading into tomorrow's race. Tony Stewart, the winner of last year's Coke Zero 400, started 42nd in last year's race and won. Trevor Bayne, the winner of the 2011 Daytona 500, started 32nd in his win. Point is that where you start only matters at the end of the race if you are holding the trophy. Guys starting out front aren't worried about starting tomorrow; they are worried about finishing. It will be an awesome show seeing who will be there at the finish to win the race. You certainly don't want to miss tomorrow's race because it is sure to be one of the best of the year.
(More Stats Down Below!)




Top 5 Qualifiers (With Times):
1st: Kyle Busch    46.458 (193.723 mph)
2nd: Matt Kenseth    46.560 (193.299 mph)
3rd: Clint Bowyer    46.594 (193.158 mph)
4th: Kasey Kahne    46.595 (193.154 mph)
5th: Martin Truex Jr.    46.601 (193.129 mph)

Notables Not in Top 5 (With Times):
8th: Jimmie Johnson    46.630 (193.009 mph)
11th: Danica Patrick    46.649 (192.930 mph)
13th: Tony Stewart    46.662 (192.876 mph)
15th: Brad Keselowski    46.680 (192.802 mph)
16th: Dale Earnhardt Jr.    46.681 (192.798 mph)
23rd: Jeff Gordon    46.766 (192.448 mph)

DNQs: None




Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-qualification.html
-Image:
https://twitter.com/NASCAR/status/353291487234125824/photo/1